Wasting Money On YouTube
I’ve been on YouTube for nearly 5 years and in that time I’ve wasted a ton of money on pointless things thinking that they would make my videos better and take the channel to the next level. Looking back now, it was foolish but we all learn the hard way.
In this blog I will share 4 things that have been a total waste of money for me. Please keep in mind that this is for me and my specific use case. I am not a filmmaker and for me video is just a means to document and share my photography. This blog is not aimed at filmmakers or those with a keen interest in video. It’s aimed at photographers and the average person wishing to document what they do. The items below are ranked from the most expensive to the least.
Fancy Gear
The biggest money pit was buying specialist filmmaking gear thinking it would make my videos better. I remember getting a crazy expensive gimbal, a huge shotgun mic and an overpriced ND filter because I was convinced that it was the key to my success. Of course in the right hands and on the right job, this equipment is essential and will get results. However steady shots, crisp audio and optimum motion blur will not make for an interesting video. Instead these items will just slow down the creative process and put more barriers in place.
Plug Ins
The second money pit was hundreds of pounds I wasted on plug ins. From animated “subscribe below” banners to various graphics and transitions. I must admit in my early gullible days I was being influenced by all the filmmaker bro types on YouTube who were pushing various motion graphics and plug ins. I was convinced that if my channel had a fancy action packed intro, I would get more subscribers. Safe to say this was all a waste of money because ultimately I find all these transitions and animations cheesy and distracting. Nothing beats a simple clean cut.
YouTube Studio
Thankfully with this one I didn’t go down the rabbit hole too much. Everyone seems to want a YouTube studio full of neon lights, monitors, gear on the wall and a nerf gun. For many people their studio is almost like a character on the show. Don’t get me wrong, if that’s what you want, go for it because it is cool to have your own space. The issue for me was that I was never the sit at home and make videos type, I’d rather be out and about. It took me years to find that out. So these days I have one good mic and one light for situations when I am at home, otherwise I am out and about with my Pocket 3. A fancy YouTube studio will not make your videos better or more interesting. In some cases it can actually be a distraction and make you look like everyone else.
LUTs
LUTs are the smallest waste of money but they are worth mentioning because no matter whose LUT pack I purchased, the results were never as nice as just editing it myself in Final Cut. Unlike presets, LUTs can’t be modified and adjusted. The most you can do is adjust the opacity and maybe play with various blend modes. You have 0 control over the image and the settings. For many people they are great and they save them time, for me the only LUTs I use are those from Fuji or DJI to convert the LOG footage to something I can work with. This isn’t to trash LUTs, this is just to say they are far from a one stop solution.
With all that said there are some things which I am glad I spent money. They have either paid for themselves or made my life 100 times easier and more efficient.
High Spec Laptop
I used to skimp on laptops. Be it the speed, graphics or the SSD. I always saw it as dead money when I can happily wait an extra minute to render or export. The issue is when you take that minute and multiply by the 1000s of minutes you will spend doing these tasks, very quickly it becomes a ton of time. Of course if you’re the type to spend 8 hours a day on TikTok, then saving time isn’t a concern and you might as well skip this. However if you’re like me and wish to be efficient, then these laptop upgrades have been well worth it. I can also extend this to paying extra for enough internal storage. My laptop has 4tb of SSD space which means I never need to worry about having external drives with me. I never need to worry about where my photo album sits or which drive the latest video project is on. I just grab the laptop and go. Of course I do this for a living thus I can justify it, but if we put money aside for a minute, there is no argument for how much more efficient having a well specced laptop is.
Final Cut Pro
From day one of jumping into video editing I paid £299 for Final Cut Pro. For obvious reasons this is the best investment to date. It has way more features than most people would ever need however the main selling point is how efficient and quick it is to use compared to some competitors. I tried offerings from Adobe and Blackmagic, they aren’t as efficient and will require an insane learning curve that for most people will not be worth it. Final Cut required almost no learning curve at least when it comes to the basics.
DJI Pocket 3
This is the most recent purchase and has single handedly changed how I make videos. Before this camera I had to choose between filming on the XH2s or the GoPro. The XH2s would give insane quality but is more cumbersome to film yourself especially in public. The GoPro is incredibly convenient to use but the quality sucks. The DJI is the perfect blend of quality, convenience and portability. When using outside, no one looks at you because it just looks like a toy camera. I never had any issues with security or general hassle when filming with the Pocket 3. It has allowed me to film videos as I go about my day which not only makes it more interesting to watch but also saves me a ton of time. As a matter of fact I found myself enjoying this style of video making much more than setting up a camera in a home office.
